Dodgers 3 @ Cubs 4

Rain delays suck, especially when you are the one doing the game recap. Sundays near three hour delay put me on a collision course with some dinner plans. Throw in extra innings and you have a snafu of sorts. I was able to watch the first two innings and then the ninth and tenth. A quick trip to the store for milk left me listening to the eleventh on WGN Radio.

The Good:

I am leading off the good with my guy, Tony Campana. The guy had two solid hits today, the second of which drover in the tying run in the ninth. The were not little slappy knocks either, they were legit balls driven into the outfield. The first hit was a single that he turned into a double with his otherworldly speed.

Ian Stewart got a hit in a pinch hit role today, why is this positive? Because it brought his average up to .204…..he is no longer below the Mendoza Line.

Brian LaHair went 3-for-4 and raised his average to .390…..he is still hitting.

Starlin Castro was only 1-for-5 today but his one hit drove in two runs.

Camp, Russell, and Dolis were all fantastic out of the pen today. They managed to nail down five scoreless innings of ball to keep the Cubs in the game. Camp and Russell are the class of this bullpen and Dolis is not far behind….I never thought I would say those words.

David DeJesus not only drove in the winning run with a walk but he had three of them today. He is actually starting to look the part of a lead off hitter.

The Cubs won another series and seem to be on a small tear as of late. Winning a series is always a good thing for this team.

The Bad:

Alfonso Soriano and Wellington Castillo went a combined 0-for-9 today. Castillo is now 0-for-11 since being brought up and Soriano is well, Soriano.

The Cubs had a great chance to lock the game up in the ninth but DeJesus got thrown out at the plate on Campanas hit. I am not sure why he was sent there as he was beat by quite a bit on the throw. There was only one out and we would have had runners at second and third. We surely would have brought that winning run in over the course of two at bats right? right?

In the tenth inning Joe Mather managed to get picked off first. He got a little bit too much of a jump and got caught out in no mans land in a run down.

Well that’s about it from my angle. Did anybody actually watch this whole game today and see something I missed?

DeJesus’ winning at-bat wasn’t exactly an exercise in patience. All six pitches were out of the zone after Dodgers’ pitcher Jamey Wright had just hit Jeff Samardzija who was trying to lay down a sac bunt. Why DeJesus was swinging at any of those pitches with no outs is a little confusing….luckily Wright was even worse during that at-bat.

Really good series win though…2 of 3 with Maholm, Volstad, and Travis Wood against the NL’s best while rearranging the bullpen.

BLPCB

And DeWitt got DFAd!

http://swantron.com/ jswanson

You came across way too Debby Downer there, Jedi…we just took two from the Dodgers. That fast batboy barreled up a few times and I actually thought Svowel might headbutt the ump. Things are coming up Cubbies…

BLPCB

The White Sox lost today also. If not for Marmol, we could have a better record than them.

Jedi

“Really ‘great’ series win”…is that better?

Doug Bagley

4 straight series we have won/tied…& it may just be me but do the Cubs win every game Campana starts???

chet

Good series, I get the feeling Atlanta is going to crush us though….not sure why, just a feeling, it’s like we are due for a beating or something.

LVCubFan

Campana is really fun to watch, other than Pierre in ’06 I can’t recall a Cubs team in the past 20 years with a true speedster. In today’s National League, if he can learn to drag bunt, he could be really special. Darwin Barney however is fading fast and seemed to use all his extra offseason weight on that 1 home run.

Katie

We’re almost as good as the Brewers…

Norm Bothwell

It was an odd call to send DeJesus home, I thought. But Castro had a rough day at the plate with three K’s, then with the first base open they could have walked LaHair and brought up Soriano…so who knows how it would have turned out.

BLPCB

That’s bc they don’t have tubby Veggy anymore and Braun is off the good stuff

http://swantron.com/ jswanson

way better

Doc Raker

This is what I have been waiting for since 2010, young talent and a front office that is looking to the future. Who knows what Lil’Tony and LaHair will be like in 2014 but I enjoy watching them play so much more than Carlos Pena and Aramis Ramirez who is hitting .200 for the Brewers. Travis Wood keeps his team in the game, maybe he sticks around and Volstad goes down to Des Moines….or Peoria. We need to evaluate all the youth we have, this is what 2012 is all about and getting some wins while we see the youth come up is uplifting because I know we are moving upward instead of downward like we were the past 2 years.

Jim Hendry

Carlos Pena had value because of his OBP, you want your RBI guys to take as many walks as possible, you batting average people really get under my skin, LaHair and his .390, big deal.

Eddie Von White

Jim – that is why you no longer have a job.

broadfi2

Keep winning series.. get back to close to .500 and we can move on from there. The bullpen has killed us in the first month. Dempster is leading the NL in ERA and Opp Batting average. and all he has to show is 0-1 (at the very least should be 3-1 and could be 4-0 for some run support) He should be the NL Pitcher of the month.

Seymour Butts

I think he has a Yob with the Jankees.

Seymour Butts

Dare I say..We do not suck!

http://swantron.com/ jswanson

I knew I recognized their bat boy from somewhere…

Jedi

Say it quickly…

Doc Raker

Dempster has pitched better than I expected but he also was the recipient of some strong winds blowing in at Wrigley for some of his starts. I expect Dempsters ERA to rise along with the temperatures as Wrigley Field becomes more hitter friendly.

Norm Bothwell

Hmmm, maybe its sarcasm, but it sounds like you’re saying Dempster has gotten a little lucky so far Doc? And I wouldn’t disagree.

Cubby311

Chet, you need an editor. Omg! On Sunday I had to watch baseball all day, boo hoo. I bet you had wamburgers and french cries for dinner. I’ve never heard somebody bitch so much about watching baseball, who is supposedly a fan, let alone a writer. For God’s sake, man up! All you fair weather Cubs’ fans, won’t deserve a WS title when we get it. Real Cubs’ fans, don’t waiver in the breeze. Yeah, flying the big ‘W’ is great, but real fans support their team in good or bad times. I bleed blue whether we are in 1st or last. Bring back the pride!
- Eamus Catuli~(Go Cubs!)

BLPCB

Spoken like a White Sox fan incapable of saying anything other than Cubs Suck

Jedi

Real Cub fans don’t translate Eamus Catuli…cut Chet a break, I’d hardly call him fairweather for not putting his life on hold during a rain delay.